Healthy Snack Wednesday: Homegrown Veggie Salad w/ Mint

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

My eating has gone to new limits lately. With blogger events like Lil Vinny’s Dinner, and Local 149 brunch (I’ll post about that soon), I have been consuming entirely too much indulgent food too often. Healthy Snack Wednesday could not have come sooner!

This year, on our tiny patio garden, we were able to grow tomatoes, habaneros and bell peppers. That statement is somewhat understating what we grew. These vegetables are fabulous! I guess its kind of like a dog, when it is yours, it is always the cutest. Well, we grew these vegetables, and they are the best I have eaten.

Whenever you have vegetables this good, you really want to showcase their flavor, not hide it in a heavy recipe loaded with spices and anything else. I collected some fresh mint from our neighbor’s garden (with permission of course) and my snack was making itself!

Homegrown Veggie Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 sprigs of fresh mint (washed and torn)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 large tomatoes (cut into chunks)
  • 1 bell pepper (sliced)
  • salt & pepper
  • 1/4 lime
  • crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

  • Pour olive oil into a sealable container
  • Add mint leaves to oil and let sit, covered, for at least 1 hour
  • Place tomato and bell peppers on a plate
  • Sprinkle with the desired amount of feta cheese
  • Sprinkle veggies with salt and pepper to taste
  • Squeeze lime over salad
  • Drizzle desired amount of mint oil on salad (about 1 tablespoon)
  • Enjoy and feel the healthiness!

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Healthy Snack Wednesday: Recipe Feta Beet Dip & EatStrong Giveaway!

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

 

Make sure to read to the end of this post to enter to win a month’s supply of EatStrong snacks!

Healthy Snack Wednesday is nearing an end. If you remember, this little project was started at the beginning of January as part of the weight loss challenge at work. I have to say, doing something like this in the midst of one of the worst winters in history is very challenging. Waking up at 5 am to get a workout in, when it is 10 degrees and there is a fresh foot and a half of snow on the ground…yeah…not so easy! I actually did very poorly on that aspect of things. To tell the truth, I didn’t get my butt back into gear until last week! I am proud to say that I am back on my regular workout regime, and thanks to the Virtual Trainer I discovered on Shape.com, I have a renewed passion for getting back in tip-top shape! The final weigh in for the challenge is on Friday, so I will let you know how that went.

There are 2 main reasons I am thrilled to have done the Healthy Snack Wednesday series. The first is that I had to go outside of my comfort zone to create new recipes during the time of year when the obvious ingredients (fruits and veggies) are at their least bountiful. I have truly created some recipes that will definitely remain in my regular rotation, and that I am still pretty obsessed with! My top 3 Healthy Snack Wednesday recipes? Easy!

My very first recipe, white bean bruchetta dip,

 metch (which I have made 4 times since), and Beet Chips, which my taste testers are requesting more of!

I used Golden Beets & Regular Beets

Maybe a top three isn’t so easy, let’s make it a top four. I cannot leave out the “healthier” bread pudding! I made it 3 times in one week alone!

The second reason I am thrilled to have done this series is that it challenged me to produce a quality blog post EVERY Wednesday. That is much more difficult than it sounds when you work full time, are getting your masters degree, do some consulting, and are trying to get a creative dinner on the table every night. So this was a great challenge, and I am glad I saw it through to the end. I don’t think this is the end of Healthy Snack Wednesday, maybe it is just the cutting back. I think the series will still pop up on the blog once in a while, for sure!

On this journey, I have been so lucky to receive the support of so many great products as well! A special thank you to Dave Eats!, Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats, Popchips, Veggie Patch, Chobani, Pretzel Crisps, and EatStrong (whose giveaway is at the end of this post!). It was really fun to be challenged to use these products in our healthy snacks! I know I have a few very happy readers thanks to these sponsors as well!

I couldn’t end this series without a recipe. There is a restaurant in Cambridge called Sofra. It is a small cafe style place…oh yeah, and it is an Ana Sortun adventure, so you know it is good! I discovered the eatery when my sister was in town, and  now it is a regular stop whenever she is here. I also run into them at the Copley Farmers’ Market, and can usually be persuaded to purchase one of their delightful tarts, whether it is sweet or savory. But my favorite item from Sofra is a Meza Platter! They have so many delightful meza, that it is always a hard choice, however you can’t go wrong! My very favorite items of the meza? Beet Tzatziki and Whipped Feta with Sweet & Hot Peppers. For this Healthy Snack Wednesday, I decided to make a hybrid of these two dishes…Sofra Bakery and Cafe on Urbanspoon

 

Feta Beet Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 small beet
  • 1/4 lb feta
  • 1 tbsp light sour cream
  • salt to taste

Directions

  • Peel and quarter the beet
  • Place beet in a small pot and cover with water
  • Bring to a boil and boil until the beet is fork-tender (about 10 – 15 minutes)
  • Drain the beet and let cool
  • Add the feta, boiled beet and sour cream to a food processor or blender
  • Puree until the beet is mostly pureed
  • Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour so that the dip will harden
  • Serve with your favorite veggies, pita chips, pretzels or crackers!

GIVEAWAY!!!

I was so happy to receive some delicious and ultra healthy samples from EatStrong. Up until I received the samples, I hadn’t even heard of the product, but now I am hooked.

Www.EatStrong.com is a great resource if you are looking for ways to live healthier, and who isn’t? EatStrong believes in real food. Made from all natural, rich and nourishing ingredients, we deliver satisfying healthy snacks to fuel your body. The combination of nuts, seeds and organic chocolate fortifies and revitalizes from toes to tastebuds.

EatStrong has even developed their own healthy snacks. How appropriate for Healthy Snack Wednesday! I am honored to offer the winner of my final Healthy Snack Wednesday contest a MONTH’S SUPPLY OF EATSTRONG SNACKS!! A month’s supply! How awesome is that?!

Here is what you need to do to enter:

  • You must live in the Continental U.S. You must also leave a way for me to get in touch with you if you win.
  • REQUIRED ENTRY- Comment on this blog post about what your favorite high energy snack is!

The remainder of ways to enter are optional, and you may do one, or all of them. You will get an entry for each that you do.

  • Bonus Entry- Follow EatStrong on Facebook or Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you did so.
  • Bonus Entry- Become a fan of Eat.Live.Blog on Facebook and leave me a comment letting me know you did so.
  • Bonus Entry- Tweet about this contest. Your tweet MUST contain @renh77 @eatstrong & http://wp.me/pVsto-j3. Leave me a comment letting me know you did so.
  • Bonus Entry- Write on EatStrong’s Facebook Wall “Eat.Live.Blog sent me! ” and leave me a comment letting me know you did so.

Blah, blah…

  • The winner must leave contact information for me to notify them
  • The winner will be asked to send me their mailing address
  • The prize will be mailed to you directly from EatStrong’s representative
  • Winner will be chosen using Random.org
  • Winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 by noon.
  • Contest will close to entries on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 9pm.

Disclosure: EatStrong did provide me with one sample of each snack and is solely responsible for the prize in this contest. As always, all opinions are my own, and I was under no obligation to review or giveaway these products.

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments »

The secret family recipe – Greek Salad!

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

 My plan today was to write a post about my car buying experience this weekend, which I was hoping to culminate in pictures of me in my new ride. Alas, the process is still ongoing, so that post will have to wait!

In its place, I will post a recipe that my sister-in-law has been begging me to put up for months. The Hirschberg Family’s Famous Greek Salad. Its true, we are known for this delicious, nutritious meal in itself, or an amazing side dish.

I know, I know, a salad recipe seems like a cop-out, but it totally isn’t! This dressing and method has taken generations of Hirschbergs to make it just right…or maybe just my dad and me…

Yes, you will also note that this recipe calls for iceberg lettuce. This is NOT a suggestion. The only way that a greek salad can reach its delicious best is with iceberg, as generic as that may seem.

On to the show-

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup Olive Oil (the better the quality, the better the dressing)
  • 1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
  • 2 cloves of fresh garlic- chopped finely
  • 4 large, pitted, olives – chopped finely
  • 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1.5 tsp sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 head of iceberg lettuce – chopped well or shredded
  • 1 english cucumber
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1/2 red onion sliced into rings
  • 1/2 lb mixed seeded olives
  • 1/2 cup sliced peperocinis
  • 1/2 lb feta cheese chopped (I adore Bulgarian Feta if you can find it)
  • Optional additions- Chopped celery, grape tomatoes, thinly sliced carrots, thinly sliced radish

Directions:

  • Place oil, chopped olives and garlic into dressing container and allow to marinate while you prepare the salad
  • Place chopped or shredded lettuce into salad bowl
  • Cut the cucumber in half length-wise and de-seed it by running a spoon down the middle of each half to remove the seeds (you may discard the seeds)
  • Chop half of the cucumber and place chopped cucumber in salad
  • Slice the remaining cucumber (should look like smiles) and put aside
  • Chop the top of your pepper off and remove the seeds
  • Cut 3 rings of pepper off the top and put aside
  • Chop the remainder of the pepper and place in salad
  • Chop half of your peperocinis and place in salad
  • If using any of the optional ingredients, place those in the salad now as well
  • Toss the salad well

  • Take your reserved vegetables and feta cheese to decorate the top of the salad (including red onion slices)
  • Now it is time to finish the dressing!
  • Add vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and basil to the oil/garlic/olive mix. Shake and allow to sit for at least 1 hr.
  • 10 minutes before you serve the salad, shake and pour the dressing EVENLY over the top, do not mix!! It is very important that the salad marinades in the dressing for a minimum of 10 minutes. You do not have to use all of the dressing, use your judgement here.

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

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